Swedish Silver: 9-Year-Old Boy Finds $265,000 Medieval Treasure Trove

Swedish Silver:9-Year-Old Boy Finds $265,000 Medieval Treasure Trove

A nine-year-old Swedish boy and his grandfather have found a hoard of 13th-century coins while treasure hunting on a battlefield. Just the silver in the coins alone is estimated to be worth a whopping $265,000.

It's every child's dream come true: A nine-year-old boy was out treasure hunting with his grandfather and uncovered a medieval hoard worth a small fortune.

Alexander Granhof and his grandfather Jens wanted to look for cannonballs on the site of the 1676 Battle of Lund on the outskirts of their home city of Lund in southern Sweden, the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan reported on Monday. They ended up finding a treasure trove of 4,600 silver coins from the 13th century.

Alexander Granhof told reporters he had first of all found a piece of metal which he took to be a shard of bullet. He then called his grandfather over, and the pair quickly uncovered more and more coins. Archaeologists with metal detectors were later able to find more coins at the site, bringing the total up to 7,000. The stash, which had been buried in two clay urns, also contained a number of English coins as well as Scandinavian coins.

Experts estimated that the silver in the coins alone is worth 1.5 million kronor (170,000 or $265,000). Until now there has been no announcement about a possible reward for the young man.

Bernd Gerlach of Lund's Historical Museum said the find was "absolutely unbelievable." Local archaeologist Mats Anglert told the Swedish English-language news Web site The Local that young Alexander was "somewhat overwhelmed" by the find but was "very enthusiastic" in helping the archaeologists with the dig.

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